OK, here is my take on the battery for a C22. First I replaced ALL lighting with LED.I used a pretty standard car battery that I purchased from a shop that sells rejects and blems.I also added a solar panel and controller from Harbor Freight. The panel was always active when the boat not used. This kept my battery charged all the time. I had electric start, VHF, Depth, tiller pilot, and car stereo. Never had power issues. OH yeah, we had the battery isolated via battery switch and mounted in a proper battery box that was bolted down and had straps on the lid to keep it in place. All good safety measures!

Admittedly, deep cycle marine batteries are a better way to go but for my day sailing needs and occasional after dark the cheap blem battery lasts several years and is easily replaced.

On the other side of the coin though we do use 4 large 6v deep cycle batteries on our bigger boat as well as a separate starter battery. They most certainly have their place there. Our power consumption is pretty high for sailors on that boat.

The VHF antenna position is strictly related to where you sail. Here in the Puget Sound there are boaters everywhere and we are rarely if ever far from other boats. On the C22 I had the antenna rail mounted on the sternpit and it was more than adequate! On top of the mast is ideal however for our needs completely unnecessary!

Again though on our larger boat we are much more willing to sail far away from others and the main antenna is on top of the mast. We use it mostly for local weather reports. The other antenna is on top of the radar arch and gets 95% of our use as we generally talk to close marinas or friends we are meeting.